Currently, customers may have a difficult time finding products in stores. Often, stores move the products around, which make locating specific products difficult. Also, stores are not standardized with respect to the location of products, so knowing the location of the product in one store does not mean that the customer will be able to find the product in another store. Customers may become frustrated with the inability to locate products in a store and leave without purchasing anything.
To further complicate the issue of finding products in stores, stores often run out of stock of certain products so even if a customer knows where the product should be located, it may not be there when the customer arrives. The lack of current information on product location results in wasted trips, frustrated customers, and lost sales when customers go to another store for their shopping.
Additionally, visually-impaired customers may have difficulty navigating through a store to locate products. Stores may have unusual layouts, products are difficult to locate and identify, and even if the customer knows where the product is supposed to be located, the product may not be in stock when the customer gets to the location. Visually-impaired individuals desire the freedom to shop in stores independently but find it difficult without guidance to products.
Financial institutions look to serve customers by making their lives easier. One way financial institutions can do this is by assisting customers in locating products within stores. Financial institutions also desire to serve business customers, for example, by providing tailored marketing strategies so that businesses are effectively using marketing resources and customers are receiving useful information in a convenient manner.